


Petty Cruelty

by Lokisgame



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode: s04e13 Never Again, Gen, X-Files OctoberFicFest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8356786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokisgame/pseuds/Lokisgame
Summary: His inner workaholic squirmed restless.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scullywolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Never Again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5142347) by [scullywolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf). 



His inner workaholic squirmed restless. She's doing the work, my work, our work, and I'm fooling around. What if she misses something, some detail that could tip the scales, something she would dismiss as outright ridiculous, where as he would pick it up, fight her for it, and it would all fall into place. Case closed, on to the next. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one.  
He forced himself to let go, trust her, over four years together and he could always trust her judgment. He told himself he didn't need to be there.  
He went on a spiritual journey. And for what he found, he didn't even need to reach his destination. Half way was all it took. Half is what he felt. No one to talk to, parting in anger left the connection broken, a different flavor of ditch. He was driving to Memphis, only half way there and he already missed her. 

I will get you that desk, if it's such a big deal for you. No need to be bitchy about it. 

Was she punishing him? For what? For ditching her? Bossing her around? Giving her that assignment? Was it the moon? Some strange alignment of stars that made their wavelengths clash in dissonance? Why couldn't they talk about it? The thrill of the trip was gone, poisoned by the feeling of unfinished business. That nagging thought. Vacation should be a reward not punishment.

He needed to hear her, find out if she got over whatever it was that was bothering her. 

_I wanted to share it with you._

He knew in theory, that he doesn't need it, that he's a grown up, a self sufficient adult human being, but no man is an island and wants to mean something to someone. Someone to care for him. There is nothing wrong with seeking acceptance or love, even platonic. 

He cut his trip short. Not short enough though. An FBI agent, a grown woman capable of taking care of herself, almost got herself killed by a one-night-stand. Doesn't avoiding this kind of situations fall under the definition of "taking care of myself"? What were you trying to prove Scully, and to whom? 

She sat in her chair and looked at him from a new kind of distance. He could see the bricks aligning. Her desk, her place, this is your place, this is mine. Not ours, mine. He knew that it was irrational, but it felt as if by giving her that 7 square feet of desk space, he would give her a door to shut in his face. To shut him out, put him in his corner. _This is my space, get out, until I say otherwise._ He knew in his gut that her say so might be far too long for him. _Our desk, our space, there's no place to hide, we need to work it out._

She was distancing herself from him. But why? Her silence spoke volumes in a language he did not want to learn.

It went against everything that was the very core of his being, this petty cruelty. He tried to do it. He didn't get the door for her, didn't slow his pace for her, forced himself not to joke or touch her, kept his hands firmly in his pockets, back straight, an arms length between them at all times. By way of precaution he kept the eye contact to strictly necessary minimum. Strictly professional. After all, not everything was about him. 

He lasted three days. He couldn't do it. Everything inside him rebelled against it. He bought her flowers.  
She gave him the news.

**Author's Note:**

> Part of Leiascully's October Fic Fest
> 
> I am perfectly aware that I'm making excuses for him, but the jump from "my life" to "but it's m..." to flowers always bothered me.
> 
> Idea born from conversation with Scullywolf about her wonderful fic TXF: Scenes In Between - part 86 "Never Again"


End file.
